Ophthalmic device



March m, 1942. I R MAI-COM 2 2%,222

OPHTHALMIC DEVICE Fil ed March 17, 1941 Patented Mar. 10, 1942 UNI-TED STATESPATENT OFFICE OPHTHALMIC DEVICE Robert Malcom, Chicago, 111.

Application March 17, 1941, Serial No. 383,835

6 Claims.

This invention relates to bridge members that connect eyecups or other lens holders of goggles or other ophthalmic mountings, and more particularly to means for so connecting a flexible bridge member to an eyecup that the length of that member between a pair of eyecups may be adjusted to conform the cups to the eye spacing of a user.

The bridge member is of an elongated type that has a series of enlargements or abutments. It may be a conventional ball chain formed of spaced beads connected by wire or other suitable links, or it may be other suitable form having abutments that are cooperable with a lock element such as hereinafter described.

It is an object of the invention to provide means, for connecting a bridge member of this kind to one or both of a pair of lens holders, so arranged that the member easily may be varied in length between the holders to adjust the latter to the desired spacing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bridge lock that retains the bridge member in association with a lens holder without liability of unintentional disconnection therefrom or change in adjustment.

Further, it is an object of the invention to provide a bridge member connection on a lens holder that contains a lock part controllable by a lens retaining means to keep it in look position and to permit it to shift to release position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide means entirely contained in the wall of an eyecup for adjustably holding a bridge member in association therewith.

The invention is exemplified herein in association with goggles, and for convenience and brevity the lens holders are referred to as eyecups, but it is to be understood that the disclosure and terms used are intended to denote also equivaf lent parts of any ophthalmic mounting to which the invention is applicable, and that it is not limited to mountings of the goggle type.

Like reference-characters refer to corresponding parts in the views of the drawing, of which- 5- Fig. 1 is a front view of a pair of goggles, some parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front view of an eyecup;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrative of a modification;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5, Fig. 4,

Goggles of a type shown for purpose of explanation include eyecups 6 with rigid side walls I shaped at their rear edges to conform to averagefacial contours adjacent to the eyes. Each eyecup has at its annular front edge a lens 8 normally held tight thereagainst by a loosenable member such as, for example, an interiorly threaded retaining ring 9 screwed onto an exteriorly threaded portion of the eyecup and having an annular flange overlapping the lens. The eyecups may be of conventional form, except as later described, and they may have parts In for connection with a headband (not shown) as is common in the art. The eyecups advantageously may be made of moldable light and strong material capable of withstanding hard usage when worn and handled by workmen.

In order to permit an elongated bridge member to move transversely through the wall of one or both of a pair of eyecups for adjusting the length of the bridge between the cups, the side wall of one or both of the cups is perforated in its nasal side by a hole or passage ll disposed substantially perpendicular to the cup axis and circular in cross section and large enough to permit abutment parts of the bridge to have longitudinal movement therein.

A bore or passage l2, of uniform diameter from end to end, extends entirely within the eyecup wall from the front edge of the eyecup to the passage H, with which. it intersects. The bore is substantially parallel to the axis of the eyecup and thus substantially perpendicular to the passage II. It is to'accommodate a lock part later described.

A bridge member l3, for connecting two eyecups, is elongated and usually flexible, and it has a series of spaced balls l4 connected by wire or other suitable links I5. The bridge member may be covered between the eyecups by a tube l6 of rubber or other suitable comparatively soft material as a cushion at the bridge of the nose.

Adjusting movement of the bridge member in the passage H of an eyecup is controlled by a pin or detent ll in the bore [2 that is shiftable to and from intersecting lock position between balls of the bridge.

As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the detent ll consists of a shank portion l8 that can in its shifting extend at its outer end beyond the front surface of the eyecup, and a larger bridge engaging part IQ of a diameter slightly less than that of the passage I2. There is an annular shoulder 20 at the juncture of the two parts of the-detent, and the inner part is rounded at its bridge engaging end. The shank of the detent is slidable in a bushing 2lfixed in the outer end portion of the bore I2, the bushing constricting the bore in its outer portion. The detent is prevented from displacement from the bore by contact of its shoulder 2'0 with the inner end of the bushing. When the inner end of the detent is in intersecting engagement with the bridge member, the distance between its shoulder and the inner end of the bushing is sufficient to permit the detent to shift from that look position.

The parts of the lock are so coordinated that, when the ring 9 is turned tight onto the eyecup to hold a lens 8 firmly against the front edge of the cup, the lens bears against the outer end of the detent I! and holds its inner end locked with the bridge member. That member then cannot be moved in either direction in the passage. ll. This is the normal position,

When it is desired to change the length of the bridge member between two eyecups, the ring 9 is turned and loosened enough to permit the lens to move from the front edge of the eyecup the slight distance required to let the detent shift from lock action on the bridge member. Then the bridge length may be changed by moving the bridge in the passage I I.

Ordinarily, when lock pressure of the lens on the detent is released, the balls of the bridge member can push the detent outwardly while the member is pulled in either direction, and this irrespective of the position in which the eyecup is held. If the eyecup is held lens down, as shown in Fig. 3, the lens will fall away from the eyecup edge enough for the detent to drop from engagement with the bridge member. When the adjustment is made, the bridge is relocked by tightening the ring. 9.

A similar form of bridge lock is shown by Figs. 4 and in association with an eyecup having bridge and detent passages and lens and holding ring such as those of Figs. 2 and 3. In this form the detent I! may be of uniform size from end to end of the part that normally is in the bore 12, and it coacts With the bridge member as with the other form. It has a smaller outer end 2| formed with a head 22 by which it is connected to an end portion of a flat spring 23 under the lens. The other end portion of the spring is fixed to the front edge of the eyecup by a suitable fastener 24. The spring is tensioned to urge the detent outwardly.

When the ring is in its normal tight position against the lens, the latter, bearing against the head 23 of the detent, holds the detent in look position. When the ring is loosened, the spring moves the detent outwardly and unlocks it from the bridge member.

The formation and arrangement of the parts are such that it is not necessary in either form to turn the lens holding ring entirely off of the eyecup to permit the detent to release the bridge member so that it may be adjusted in the passage II. All that is required to permit the detent to unlock is to loosen the ring. Thus, in unlocking the bridge member, the ring still retains the lens on the eyecup.

The lock controlling adjustment of the bridge may be associated with both eyecups of goggles; or it may be associated with only one of them, in which case the bridge member is connected to the other cup in any suitable manner, as shown, for example, on one of the cups of Fig. l.

I claim:

1. An ophthalmic device comprising an eyecup having a side wall containing a transverse passage extending therethrough and a bore intersecting said passage and extending therefrom to the front edge of said eyecup, a bridge member longitudinally movable in said passage, a detent in said bore shiftable to and from lock engagement with said bridge member, a lens on the front edge of said eyecup disposed over the outer end of said detent, and a loosenable retaining member normally tight in said eyecup holding said lens in place and said detent locked with said bridge member, the latter being attachable to another eyecup.

2. An ophthalmic device comprising an eyecup having a side wall containing a transverse pas- .sage extending therethrough and a bore intersecting said passage and extending therefrom to the front edge of said eyecup, a bridge member longitudinally movable in said passage, a bushing in the outer end portion of said bore, a detent shiftable in said bore including a shank in said bushing and a larger inner end portion engageable with said bridge member, a lens on the front edge of said eyecup disposed over the outer end of said detent, and a loosenable retaining member normally tight on said eyecup holding said lens in place and said detent locked with said bridge member, the latter being attachable to another eyecup.

3. An ophthalmic device comprising an eyecup having a side Wall containing a transverse passage extending therethrough, a bridge member longitudinally movable in said passage, a detent carried by said eyecup in intersecting disposition to said passage and to the front edge of said eyecup and shiftable to and from lock engagement with said bridge member, a spring urging said detent from lock position, a lens on the front edge of said eyecup disposed over the outer end of said detent, and a loosenable retaining member normally tight on said eyecup holding said lens in place and said detent locked with said bridge member, the latter being attachable to another eyecup.

4. An ophthalmic device comprising an eyecup having a side wall containing a transverse passage extending therethrough and a bore intersecting said passage and extending therefrom to the front edge of said eyecup, a bridge member longitudinally movable in said passage, a detent in said bore shiftable to and from lock engagement with said bridge member, a spring urging said detent from lock position, a lens on the front edge of said eyecup disposed over the outer end of said detent, and a loosenable retaining member normally tight on said eyecup holding said lens in place and said detent locked with said bridge member, the latter being attachable to another eyecup.

5. An ophthalmic device comprising an eyecup having a side wall containing a transverse passage extending therethrough and a bore intersecting said passage and extending therefrom to the front edge of said eyecup, a bridge member longitudinally movable in said passage, a detent in said bore shiftable to and from lock engagement with said bridge member, a flat spring fixed near one end to the front edge of said eyecup and connected near the other end to said detent urging the latter from lock position, a lens on the front edge of said eyecup disposed over the outer end of said detent, and a loosenable. retaining member normally tight on said eyecup holding said lens in place and said detent locked with said bridge member, the latter being attachable to another eyecup.

6. An ophthalmic device comprising an eyecup having a side wall containing a transverse passage extending therethrough and a bore intersecting said passage and extending therefrom to the front edge of said eyecup, a flexible bridge member, having a series of abutments, longitudinally movable in said passage, a detent in said bore shiftable to and from lock engagement between abutments of said bridge member, a lens on the front edge of said eyecup disposed over the outer end of said detent, and a threaded retaining ring turnable and normally tight on said eyecup holding said lens in place and said detent in lock engagement with said bridge member, said detent being shiftable to unlock said bridge member when said ring is loosened by turning, and said bridge member being attachable to another eyecup.

ROBERT MALCOM. 

